Snapper everywhere in New Zealands Hauraki Gulf

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Snapper everywhere in New Zealands Hauraki Gulf

Written by markt

Saturday, 13 February 2010 14:34

The Snapper are back!
It was difficult to catch some decent snapper during winter and spring.
Even early summer didn't turn out to be so productive.
New Zealands snapper season had a late start this year, but its in full swing now.
Snapper are everywhere - lots of them - and they are close to shore in shallow water. Beautiful conditioned spawning fish.
And they are feeding like crazy. Good fishing reports are heard from everywhere.
As usual during this time of year the fish are not super big but therefore come plentiful.
Nevertheless one of my friends just caught a nice 22 pound snapper in deeper water at around 30 meters.

I've only been fishing very close to Auckland city lately.
After my holiday I need to catch up with lots of things and don't want to waste so much time driving too far away to go fishing.
Even so close to the city there are plenty of fish around.
I caught many snapper in the 3-4 pound range - a perfect size for my smoker.
But I also had a few takes that left my reel spinning for some time.
The biggies are clever and they get away easily. Especially when fishing with super light tackle.

Anyway the beauties on the picture below were caught at a reef near St Heliers from my Kayak in a water depth of about 3-8 meters, again during Major Times.
I was on the water an hour before the major times started and had a few bites - but only small fish, that were released right away.
When the major times started - during an outgoing tide the bigger fish went crazy.
I had to stop fishing cause every time I dropped my soft baits (gulp nuclear chicken) I had a take straight away.
I have also been experimenting with the new Gulp crazy legs soft baits. They also work awesome.
But the crazy legs are bitten off by small fish in no time, leaving only the body of the soft baits intact. So I switched back to normal 5 inch jerk shads - they seem to be a bit more economic and attract fish the same way.

Comments (3)

I've been fishing in northshore more than ten years , I knew that big fish like snapper and kigi are always moving around the place like milford and brownsbay rock so if you want to catch big one you need to get there in the evening from dec to apr..good luck

Hi Kingsley, I don't know so many spots over there but have seen many people fishing at the Devonport pier where the ferry arrives. If you have a boat there are also some good spots around Takapuna beach.

Hi im kingsley

Do you know any good places for snapper on the North Shore that are full of snapper on the rocks or even a wharf.

some nice sized snapper there well done.

thx